Oliver mbabcock



0. M. BABCOCK.

BOX.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.5 |914.

Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

, .A W. M

MT. 1 WVL MD JL ff L 7, x w a i E sur@ -I r arie OLIVER IVLIBABCOCK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WIREBOUNDS PATETS COMPANY, F KITIERYfll/[AINE A. CORPORATION 0F-MAINE.

BOX.

Speciication of Letters Patent.

Patented 9ct. 28, 1919.

Original application filed March 27, 1914, Serial No. 827,565. Divided and this application led August 5, 1914. Serial No. 855,274.

tion, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to boxes andthe like and is intended to provide a novel construction of box blank and box and a method of making the same.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 827565,`1iled March 27,1914. f

Among other objects, the invention is intended to provide abox which shall be simple and economical to manufacture; which shall be susceptible of manufacture upon automatic or partly automatic machinery; and which in the linishedfbox'shall Y be strong and durable and preferably tight.

F or purposes of illustration the invention will be describedherein as embodied in a flexible sectional box composed of separate cleatcd side sections connected by binding wires encircling the side sections-and' secured tothe cleats. 'It is Ito Ibe understood, however, that the invention is notlimited to this specific type. of box. i

. In the drawings, Figure 1, is aside elevation of a finished box blank embodying features ofthe invention. l

Fig. 2 is a perspectiveshowing the box .blank of Fig.` 1, :partly folded'.

Fig. 3 is an'endl elevation of a nished box made fromthe blank shownin Fig. 1.

' The illustrativebox blank ofFig. 1 com- Y prises four side sections having respectively wood. Preferably continuous binding wires 9 are secured to the side sections by staples 1.0,r10rwhich Vstraddle the wires and pass through the sidesheets into the cleats. Proecting ends 11, l1 of the wires are arranged to be twisted or otherwise secured together as shownat 11 in Fig.r3,1 thereby'to complete v,the continuity of the wiref binding. .As will be evident to `those skilled-in z the artait ist not indispensableV that the wire. or other binding be applied in a continuous Y side sheets 1 embodying length to an entire blank but it is preferred, where a binding means is employed, that it encircle the vbox substantially continuously when the box is completely closed. l For the purposes of the specific illustrative boxi the cleats are so proportioned relatively that they will meet in some such manner as that shown in Fig. 3; so that a group o f cleats at each end of the box substantially close the end without necessitating the provision of any additional end pieces. With such an arrangement the cleatcd blank may include in and of itself not only the box sides but also the box ends. Y For the interfitting arrangement shown 1n Fig. 3, the cleats 6 and 8 are of the same length and are arranged to wise when the blank is folded. The cleats 5 and 7 are of the same length, z'. c., a length equal to the combined widths of the cleats 6 and 8. With these four cleats 5, 6, 7, and

8 disposed as shown they completely or substantially close and constitute the lends of the box.

It will be noted in thespeciiic arrangement of Fig. 3 that the side sheets 2 andy l `at their lateral edges overlap the ends of the cleats 5 and 7 and also the edges of the and 3 whereby'the sheets 2and l embrace between them the side section consisting of the sheet 3 and cleat 7 and also the side section comprising the sheet 1 and cleat 5. y

According to a preferred method, a box the` features described may be made b v forming` four separate side sections laid out in some such manner as that indicated in Fig. 1, in which the sheetl has a width-equal or substantially equal to the length ofits cleat 5 the sheet 2 is sufficiently `wide to provide at each edge an overlap margin. 12 or 13` extending beyond the end of the Vcleat 6. said overlap margin-12 being of afwidth substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet 1 and the width of the cleat 5 so thatwhen the blank is folded the overlap margin 12 will extend as shown in Fig. Likewise theroverlap margin 13 is of a width ,preferably to overlap the adiacent end lof the cleat 7 and edge of the sheet 3;

and similar overlap margins 14 and 15 are When the parts of the sections are assembled as a blank in such form as that shown in Fig. l the desired overlap margins for overlapping the cleat end by a sheet may be provided by spacing one cleat from the next a distance not substantially less than the width of the cleat end to be overlapped; and to overlap one sheet edge by the margin of another sheet, the distance between cleats may be increased by substantially the thickness of the side sheet to be overlapped. Thus, when a cleat for one section is spaced endwise from a cleat for the next section by a distance approximately equal to the width of a cleat end to be overlapped plusthe thickness of a sheet edge to be overlapped, the side sheet material may be assembled with the cleats so spaced in various ways so as to produce an overlap by one or the other of the sheets as may be desired.

It is preferred that the side sheets be so related at their edges that the wires will be tensioned over the corner edges of the box when the box is folded; therefore, for example, it is preferred that the interval between the edge of the sheet l to the edge of the sheet 2 be not greater than the thickness of the sheet '2 which is to overlap the edge of the sheet 1 in the folding. With this arrangement, when the edge of the sheet l is forced under the margin of the sheet 2 and then forced into a position perpendicular to the l sheet 2, the wire will be pulled over the corner so as to tension it strongly and perhaps to cause the Wire to embed itself to some extent in the corner of the sheet 2. This tensioning of the wire serves to hold the overlap ing sheets securely tight and also to contri ute to the stiffness and elasticity of the box. A similar relation is preferably provided for between the right hand edge of sheet 2in Fig. l and the adjacent edge of the sheet 3; and between the lefthand edge of the sheet 4 and the adjacent edge of the sheet 3; and when the box is folded into the form shown in Fig. 3 and the ends 11 of the wires are twisted together, the wire may be thereby tensioned at all of the box corners.

It has been customary in wirebound boxes heretofore made to provide end pieces to be inserted inside the cleats and to be secured to the cleats; but in the specific construction of box shown no end piece is necessary` since the cleats, when arranged in some such manner as that shown, sufficiently close the box ends. Thus, the entire box may be formed simply by forming a blank o'f separate side sections, folding the sections lnto box form and then completing the contmuity of the binding means so that lthe binding means may constitute alone the means `for holdingthe parts together in box form.

A box embodying the Afeatures of this invention may havea flexible chaliwter Wllfh is extremely desirable. For instance, if the box of Fig. 3 is subjected to distorting forces acting in a diagonal direction, there may be a substantial tendencyfor adjacent edges of the side material to shift longitudinally relative to each other; and this shifting may occur without being substantially resisted except by the friction betwcen'theoverlapping parts and the tensile strength of the bindingwire. The wire or other binding means is preferably laterally flexible to accommodate this longitudinal shifting of adjacent sheet edges. Hence the shifting may take place to a considerable extent without material danger of rupture ing any of the parts and the extreme flexibility of the box is contributed to by the fact that, as illustrated in Fig. 3, each side section is wholly disconnected from adjacent side sections except by frictional contact and by the wire binding. F or instance, if a distorting strain tended to shift longitudinally the edge of the sheet 3 in relation to the edges of the sheet 4-.,.the cleat 7 and sheet 3 may slide relatively to the sheet e and its cleat 8 without material tendency to break any part and .simply against the resistance of the frictional engagement between the parts and that resistance offered by the tensile strength of the binding wire. While in some cases it may be preferable to provide for this maximum flexibility of the box by having the parts disconnected except by the wire, it would be entirely practicable to provide additional fastening meansfor securing parts together to secure greater Vrigidity or for other reasons. V

The described box, besides being flexible without material danger of breakage, is also desirably elastic in that when it has been distorted, within reasonable limits, and the flexible wire and other parts have been thereby put under increased tension, they tend to restore themselves to their original organization and method of manufacture i hereinbefore described for illustration. On the contrary, the relations of the box parts and the materials therefor may be variously modified inV form and dimensionsY and the method of making the Vbox modified in various particulars,.all of which will appear to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, it is not indispensable that all the featuresV of theA invention be used conjointly since they may be employed separately in combinations and sub-combinations defined inthe following claims: j Y Y Y i It is to be understood that the words box, y ends, sides,7 Y and similar words are employed herein as words of convenient designation and not words oflimitation since obviously theMfeatur-,QS 0f the invention may be applied to other receptacles and containers than those ordinarily described by the word box (and which are intended to be included under that name as herein used) and it is immaterial what particular part oit a box is employed in any given in* stance as its end or side.

Claims..

l. A box comprising, in combination, ends including each four cleats, two of them substantially contacting lengthwise with each other, and the other two extending-transversely of the first two cleats;.ma.terial resting on said cleats and forming sides for the box; and binding wire secured to the side material parallel to the ends of the box.

2. A'box comprising, in combination, ends including each four cleats, two of them substantially contacting lengthwise with each other, and the other two extending transversely of the irst two cleats; material resting on said cleats and forming sides for the box; and binding wire secured to the side material and cleats and embracing the box ends.

3. A box comprising, in combination, ends including each a pair of long cleats substantially contacting lengthwise with each other; a pair of short cleats of a length approximately equal to the combined widths of said long cleats, and disposed across the opposite ends or said long cleats; and side material for said long cleats respectively disposed along their length and extending across the ends of the short cleats and providing an overlap margin beyond each short cleat; and side material for each short cleat positioned between the overlap margins of the long sides; and bind-wires parallel to the box ends for securing the parts together.

4. A box comprising, in combination, ends including each a pair of long cleats substantially contacting lengthwise with each other; a pair of shortl cleats disposed transversely of said long cleats; and sides for said long cleats respectively disposed along their length and across the ends of the short cleats and providing an overlap margin beyond each short cleat; and side material for yeach short cleat positioned between said overlap margins of the long sides; and wire bindings embracing the box ends secured to the several sides and to each of said cleats.

5. A box blank consisting of separate box sections, each comprising side material and cleats; two said sections being arranged to have their respective cleats contact longitudinally when folded; and the other two sections being arranged to intert with the rst two sections to substantially complete the closures at the ends; and continuous wire bindings extending from end to end of the blank and secured to the cleats of the several sections.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OLIVER M. BABCOCK.

l/Vitnesses:

WILLIAM R. JOHNSTON, LAURENCE A. JANNEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

